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Harborview: COVID outbreak killed a patient, infected staff

Published 1:30 am Friday, October 16, 2020

Health care workers and other staff walk out of Harborview Medical Center, a part of UW Medicine, during a noon hour break in a demonstration asking management to do more to protect staff, patients and the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Thursday, May 14, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
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Health care workers and other staff walk out of Harborview Medical Center, a part of UW Medicine, during a noon hour break in a demonstration asking management to do more to protect staff, patients and the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Thursday, May 14, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Health care workers and other staff walk out of Harborview Medical Center during a noon hour break on May 14 in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Associated Press

SEATTLE — Harborview Medical Center, the region’s premier trauma center, has says a coronavirus outbreak killed one patient and sickened three others.

Ten staffers at Harborview also tested positive for COVID-19 and are isolating.

Dr. John Lynch, medical director of Harborview’s Infection Control, Antibiotic Stewardship and Employee Health programs, said Friday the patient died in the intensive care unit Oct. 8.

He said the hospital is trying to determine how the outbreak occurred.

The state of Washington’s Department of Public Health, as of Oct. 10, had counted 321 outbreaks in health care settings, which includes hospitals, outpatient clinics, behavioral health facilities, supported living facilities, home healthcare, dialysis centers and independent senior living facilities.

An additional 659 outbreaks have been recorded among long-term care facilities during that period, according to a statewide COVID-19 outbreak report published Thursday.

Since the beginning of the pandemic there have been more than 96,000 confirmed virus cases in Washington and more than 2,200 deaths.

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